Chesterfield
Notional 2005 Results:
Liberal Democrat: 21035 (46.6%)
Labour: 18462 (40.9%)
Conservative: 3784 (8.4%)
Other: 1838 (4.1%)
Majority: 2573 (5.7%)
Actual 2005 result
Conservative: 3605 (8.2%)
Labour: 17830 (40.4%)
Liberal Democrat: 20875 (47.3%)
UKIP: 997 (2.3%)
Other: 814 (1.8%)
Majority: 3045 (6.9%)
2001 Result
Conservative: 3613 (8.1%)
Labour: 18663 (42%)
Liberal Democrat: 21249 (47.8%)
Other: 916 (2.1%)
Majority: 2586 (5.8%)
1997 Result
Conservative: 4752 (9.2%)
Labour: 26105 (50.8%)
Liberal Democrat: 20330 (39.6%)
Other: 202 (0.4%)
Majority: 5775 (11.2%)
Boundary changes
Current MP: Paul Holmes (Lib Dem) born 1957. Educated at Firth park Secondary and York University. Former teacher. Chesterfield councillor 1987-1995, 1999-2003. MP for Chesterfield since 2001. Work and pensions spokesman 2002-2005, chair of Lib Dem Parliamentary party 2005-2006, arts of culture spokesman 2006-2007, housing spokesman until December 2007 (more information at They work for you)
Candidates: 
Toby Perkins (Labour) born 1970. Educated at Silverdale Comprehensive School. Former sales rep and recruitment manager. A qualified rugby coach, he now runs a rugby merchandising and equipment company. Chesterfield councillor.
2001 Census Demographics
Total 2001 Population: 88747
Male: 48.8%
Female: 51.2%
Under 18: 21.4%
Over 60: 22.9%
Born outside UK: 2.6%
White: 98.1%
Black: 0.4%
Asian: 0.6%
Mixed: 0.7%
Other: 0.3%
Christian: 77.9%
Full time students: 2.1%
Graduates 16-74: 14.7%
No Qualifications 16-74: 34.2%
Owner-Occupied: 66.6%
Social Housing: 25.9% (Council: 23.1%, Housing Ass.: 2.9%)
Privately Rented: 5.5%
Homes without central heating and/or private bathroom: 4.2%
There are aspirations for more tax cuts along the line as part of a second round of spending redistributions but they aren’t being specified yet precisely because we don’t know where the money will come from. The CTF is money being spent on giving school-leavers in 18 years time a lump sum of cash. That money at 18 may pay for a few driving lessons or a night of binge drinking but if you want to improve a person’s life chances you need to invest in education early in the child’s life. Given that poverty and lack of opportunity in childhood directly influences how well that child will do at school and thus their life trajectory, scrapping the Child Trust Fund will affect poor families much more than better off ones but it will be a positive influence, not a negative one. As for Labour cutting taxes I’m pretty sure the tax burden has increased markedly since 1997 and even before the massive bank bailout we had a national debt and budget deficit of astronomical proportions so I’m not really so sure Labour did do all that well in funding services without that extra 1p!